Weekend in LA
by Dingoes Groupie
Summary: Dawn takes a trip to visit her father but ends up staying with the Fang Gang. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Night Out  
Author: Dingoes Groupie  
Email: Pairings: C/A, Fr/G, slight D/C  
Summary: Dawn takes a trip to visit her father but ends up staying with the Fang Gang.  
Genre: Little bit of angst but mostly fluff  
Timeline: Set between Normal Again & Entropy.  
Disclaimer: Not Mine, Never will be  
Feedback: My first real fanfic so please be gentle, but yes Please!

A/N: As I haven't seen many of the Angel Season 3/4 Episode's and only know the basics, I'm going to be messing with the storyline a bit. Holtz wasn't able to follow Conner through the portal from Quortoth so even though Conner hated Angel, He eventually gave him a chance and they are slowly building a father/son relationship. Cordelia never became a higher being so she did meet Angel at the beach that night, and they are together and going strong. Also due to the Mayor's complete cover up of Finch and Worth's murder, Faith only went to prison for the assult's she did in L.A and after 18 month's in jail was paroled and is now working for A.I. Now please just imagine all that happened mid season 3. Okay I've rambled enough, on with the story...

Chapter 1.

"Hey Dawn, you ready to go?"

Looking up at her father standing in the doorway Dawn couldn't help but question why he was here. Why now did he show up wanting to see them? He'd come to Sunnydale wanting Buffy and herself to spend the weekend with him in L.A. And while Buffy had flat out refused, Dawn couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him when she saw the way his face had fallen, so reluctantly, she had said yes. She was regretting it now.

Looking out at the rapidly darkening sky, she sighed. "Yeah Dad, I'm ready"

Hank Summers smiled "Great, We'll have fun this weekend, I promise" He said before walking out of the room.

Dawn rolled her eyes after him "Yeah cause you always keep those" she muttered before slinging her bag over her shoulder, grabbing her Discman and following him downstairs.

Heading into the kitchen she made sure to grab the list of Angel and the gang's numbers Buffy had left for her on the fridge in case of any demon emergency's before checking the back door was locked, since Buffy had to work and Willow was in class, and following her father out the front door, making sure it was locked also.

Once she was settled in the car, she put the head phones over her ears, glancing at her father, she curses herself once again for saying yes to this trip "I'm gonna get some sleep, it's been a long week" Which was true, with Buffy flashing in and out of the bizzaro world, and the new vampire leader that they had spent a lot of late nights researching, and that it turned out had been trying to take over the Sunnydale demon population with some sort of magic amulet thingy. Buffy had killed him only last night so she was looking forward to being able to sleep on her way to L.A. With out offering any other details to her father she tilted the chair back, pressed play on her Discman and closed her eyes, not caring if he wanted to talk.

A/N: Little slow to start off with, will pick up, promise. Please review and if anyone is will to beta for me as I'm an aussie, and things may be off a little I would really apprieciate it.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2. 

The next thing Dawn knew she was being woken up by her father.

"Dawn, we're here"

"Huh" it took her a moment to realize they were outside her father's apartment. "Oh okay" She took her seatbelt off and reached around to grab her bag out of the back seat and stepped out of the car. Taking the headphones off her ears, she put them in her bag while following her father upstairs. Unlocking the door he motioned for her to go in.

"Hank, Sweetie, is that you?"

Spinning around Dawn saw what her fake memories told her was her father's secretary standing in the doorway to the kitchen dressed in an apron.

Turning back to her father who had just shut the door she asked "Dad, what is Cyndi doing here?"

"She lives here Dawn" Hank replied walking over and putting his arm around Cyndi.

Cyndi turned to face him. "You haven't told her yet, have you?"

Hank shook his head "I thought it would be best to tell her together"

Dawn dropped her bag and crossed her arms over her chest. "Tell me what exactly?"

Sharing a look with the woman in his arms, Hank turned to face his youngest daughter "Cyndi and I are getting married"

"Excuse me?"

"I asked Cyndi to marry me, and she said yes" Hank said his tone indicating he didn't want a fuss made about it in front of his fiancé.

"Fine, whatever, I'm going to my room"

Grabbing her bag off of the floor she walked down the hallway to where she knew the spare room was, having spent the summer after their first year in Sunnydale here with Buffy. Shutting the door she was thankful to find a lock. With a quick twist of her wrist, the door was locked. Dumping her bag and grabbing the phone she dialed the number to her home in Sunnydale.

Putting it to her ear she sat on the bed and waited for someone to answer.

"Hello, Casa de Summers, Xander Harris speaking"

"Hey Xander" Dawn said grinning at the thought of the Scooby meeting that was for sure happening in her living room. "How is everything at home, any creepy monsters you need me to come home and research, please say yes"

Xander laughed "Nope, sorry Dawnster, just your run of the mill vamps tonight, why, you not having a good time at dear old dads?" Looking at his watch, he noticed it was only 9:30. "It can't be that bad, you only just got there right?"

Dawn sighed, "Yep, I just walked in the door five minutes ago, and found out dad only brought me here to tell me he was getting remarried, to his secretary no less."

Xander winced "Ouch, that sucks, you want me to get Buffy, she'll wanna here this and I don't wanna be the messenger, least your two hours away, she can't kill you."

Dawn laughed "Yeah thanks Xan."

Laughing himself he answered. "No problem Dawnie, and if you wanna come home, I gotta work at the site tomorrow, but I can come get you after work, you just let me know ok."

"I will, again thanks Xander"

"No problem, Dawnarino, I'll just go get your sister."

Putting the phone down, he headed into the lounge room to find Buffy.

"Who was on the phone Xand?" Buffy asked as soon as he stepped into the room.

"Dawnie, Buff, she wants to talk to you."

Standing up Buffy headed for the kitchen and grabbed the phone "Dawn?"

"Hey Buff, you'll never guess what dad just told me?" Dawn said throwing herself back on the bed so that she was lying down.

"What" Buffy grinned. "He's getting that stick out of his ass and giving us all his money"

Dawn laughed at that thought, but immediately sobered again when she remembered the truth.

"No, he's getting remarried" Dawn pulled the phone away from her ear when a loud thud echoed through the receiver. Putting it on the other ear she could hear her sister fumbling with the phone on the other end.

"Excuse me!"

Dawn laughed lightly, "Yeah that exactly what I said"  
Then it seemed to all hit her at once, and tears filled her eyes. "He's getting married again Buffy, to someone who's not mom" She nearly sobbed into the phone

"Oh sweetie" Buffy's heart went out to her little sister, even though their mother was gone, they both felttheir father wasn't meant to fall in love with anyone else, and the same went for their mother when she was still alive, both Buffy and Dawn hadn't liked Ted, granted he was an evil robot but still, he was another man in their mother's lives, and both of them, but especially Dawn had held on to that tiny sliver of hope that maybe some day their parents would get back together. Neither of them had even contemplated what it would mean for their father now that their mother was gone and it was only now that Dawn's hope was completely shattered. "I'll be up their tomorrow ok, I'll see if Xander will drive me up there, I have a double shift at the Doublemeat tomorrow but I'll leave soon as that's over, unless you want me to come tonight?"

Dawn wiped the tears from her eyes. "No, Buffy its ok, I can wait till tomorrow but promise you'll come."

"I promise, and Dawnie, you know you can call Angel whenever you want and I'm sure he'll come and get you and you can stay there"

knock knock

Dawn cleared her throat. "Uh yeah" she called out.

"Dawn dinner's ready, will you come out and eat with us." Hanks voice answered from the other side of the door.

"Yeah, um I'll be out in a minute" She called back

"Ok Dawn, don't take to long don't wanna let it go cold"

"Yeah whatever" Dawn mumbled before turning back to the phone, "Sorry Buffy, dad wants me to go have dinner"

"Ok sweetie, but remember what I said about Angel, he really wont mind."

"I will, bye Buffy."

"Bye honey"

Hanging up the phone Dawn headed to the bathroom, she didn't wanna walk out there and have them know she'd been crying. Satisfied that they couldn't tell she took a deep breath and left the room.

End Chapter 2


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3 

Willow and Xander who were sitting in the living room of the Summers household jumped when they heard Buffy start swearing. Running into the kitchen they watched as she paced back and forth.

"That god damned, no good, son of a bitch-"

She was cut off by Willow.

"What's wrong Buffy, is Dawn ok?" She asked worriedly

Buffy stopped and looked up at them standing there. "Well that depends on your definition of ok, physically, she's fine" She sighed "Within two seconds of her walking in the door, Dad tells her he's getting remarried" She sat down on one of the stools. "And I know that doesn't sound that bad but Dawn was always a daddy's little girl, you know, and every time mom and dad used to fight; he would always tell her that they'd sort it out, everything would be ok, and even after the divorce, I think she'd always thought that they'd get back together, we both did. But with everything that's happened since mum died I don't think she's even thought about it, so it's just kinda hitting her all at once" She looked up at Xander. "I told her I'd come and get her tomorrow, would you mind driving me up there?"

Xander shook her head "Nah that's no problem Buffy, I already told her I'd come get her if she wanted me to."

Willow looked from Buffy and Xander. "What if I drove up there, I was going to go visit Cordy sometime soon anyway"

Xander smiled. "That would work, You two can go pick up Dawnie and I'll do a patrol with Spike so you don't have to rush back. I can pick Buffy up after work, bring her back here, then you can drop me off at home before you leave town."

"You sure you trust me with your new car Xand" Buffy asked.

Xander's smile turned into a slightly evil grin "Well if it was you driving..." He trailed off and jumped out of reach of Buffy's slap "Nah just joking Buff, yeah I trust ya" Xander yawned. "I'm gonna head off, I got an early shift in the morning and I need my beauty sleep" Giving Willow a kiss on the forehead and walking over to Buffy to do the same he started to head for the front door. "I'll see you two beautiful ladies in the morning" Opening the door he stops and turns back to face Buffy. "If for some reason you end up punching Hank, make sure you get one in for me too; the wanker should've been a bit more sensitive towards Dawnie" At the two girls grins he thought over what he had just said. "Oh crap, I've spent way too much time around the bleached wonder, I need to get me some more alive male friends" He saw that both girls were now laughing "Oh shut up"

Getting control of herself Buffy just grinned "Okay Xand I will, Goodnight"

"Yeah goodnight Xander" Willow said now in control of her own laughter.

"Night Girls" With that he left shutting the door behind him.

Willow turned to face Buffy. "I'm gonna head to bed now, I've got my Magic's Anonymous tomorrow and a lot of studying to do before we go to L.A. You gonna be okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just gonna call Angel and let him know Dawn may be calling sometime in the next 24 hours, then I'm gonna go to bed too.

"Ok" Giving the Slayer a quick hug and saying goodnight, Willow went upstairs.

The laughter from earlier gone Buffy sighed softly, grabbed the phone book and dialed the number of Angel's hotel.

End Chapter 3


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4 

ring ring ring ring

Wesley reached for the phone and settled it to his ear using his shoulder, he continued flipping through the book in his hands. "Angel Investigations, We help the helpless, Wesley Whyndom Price speaking"

"Hey Wes" A exhausted sounding Buffy came though the line. "It's Buffy, is Angel around?"

"Oh good evening Buffy, I'll just have a look, just one moment." Putting the phone down he headed into Angel's office "Angel, Buffy's on line one"

Angel looked up "Buffy?"

Wesley just nodded before heading back into the lobby, shutting the door behind him.

Picking up the phone Angel put it to his ear. "Buffy?"

"Angel, hi" Was all she had to say and Angel knew something was wrong.

"What can I do for you Buffy?"

"I was just on the phone to Dawn, she's in L.A, she was going to spend the weekend with Dad." Buffy paused.

Angel just waited for her to continue patiently

"He invited her up to introduce her to his fiancé Angel."

Angel didn't need her to continue. He remembered back to when he first started dating Buffy, He'd gone to visit her one night, crawled up to her window like he always did but instead of Buffy in her room he'd found a nine year old Dawn Summers. He was about to leave but she'd already seen him, and gone up to her sister's window. Stopping just inside the threshold, she'd looked up at him with big blue eyes and asked him if he was a friend of Buffy's.

**Flashback**

"Yes, yes I am" Angel replied looking back at the tiny little girl.

"I'm Dawn, who are you" She asked bluntly.

"I'm Angel"

"That's a pretty name" She said softly.

Angel put on a face of mock hurt. "It is not, you take that back"

Dawn giggled "It is too" She sat down on the edge of Buffy's bed and watched as Angel sat down on the windowsill not wanting to scare her. "Buffy said I'm not allowed to invite anyone in at night time" She said apologetically.

He looked down at her. "Buffy's right, you shouldn't." They both sat there in silence for a few minutes before Angel said. "So how do you like Sunnydale?"

"Oh, we're not staying here." She said confidently.

Angel crunched his forehead in confusion. "Your not?" He asked.

"Nope" she said shaking her head, her ponytails shaking from side to side. "My daddy's gonna come back and take us home again"

Before he had a chance to answer Buffy had come up beside him "Angel?"

**End flashback**

Turning his attention back to the phone he sighed. "How's she taking it?"

"I don't really know, she was teary on the phone but dad called her out to dinner, I didn't get the chance to say much, only that I'd come and get her tomorrow and that if she didn't wanna stay there she could call you... was that ok" He could practically see her on the other end of the phone biting her lip in worry. While he was now with Cordelia and he loved her, a part of him would always love Buffy and he hated to see her in any kind of pain. "There's no problem Buffy, Dawn's welcome here whenever she likes"

Buffy sighed in relief. "Thank god, not that I thought you would mind but I know I should have checked with you first, I would go and get her now but I have an early shift at the Doublemeat tomorrow"

Angel almost growled at the thought of Buffy working in that place and reminded himself to talk to her tomorrow about his idea. "Really, it's no problem, if you want to give me your father's address I can go around there and see her if you want, make sure she's ok."

Glad that he offered and she didn't have to ask him she told him the address and asked him to call her after he'd seen her.

"Will do Buffy, but I want you to come visit me when your in L.A tomorrow, I have something I want to talk to you about."

"Do you want to talk to me now?" She asked, now curious.

"No, it can wait." He said a smile playing on his lips knowing it would only aggravate her not knowing.

Not willing to rise to his bait she just said "Ok"

"Alright, I'll go see her now"

"Oh Angel" Buffy said quickly before he hung up.

"Yeah?"

Buffy, not wanting to ask for anything more, but knowing she would feel a whole lot better if she did she frowned slightly. "If you get there and Dawn doesn't want to stay, would you take her back with you, I don't want her to stay there if she doesn't want to."

"Sure Buffy, don't worry, I won't leave her there if she's unhappy"

"Thank you Angel"

"I'll call you back soon, bye"

"Bye" Buffy replied softly, hanging up the phone.

Grabbing the cordless phone from the hallway, and realizing she should have gotten it before calling Angel she headed up to her room to get ready for bed and wait for Angel's call.

* * *

Angel picked up his jacket off of the back of his chair and entered the lobby to find Wesley seated at the front counter surrounded in books. He headed over.

"Wes, I'm gonna head out, Buffy asked me to check on Dawn, she's in L.A with her father and from the phone call Buffy just received she's pretty upset"

Wesley looked up at him, a concerned frown fell over his features "Is she ok, do you want me to come with you?"

Angel gave him a small smile and shook his head "No, I'm just gonna check up on her, but if she doesn't wanna stay there I'm gonna bring her back here. It will be bad enough getting her out of there with just me, but it will be worse if two adult men turn up on Mr Summers' doorstep to take away his 15 year old daughter"

Wesley smiled in understanding "Got you, is there anything I can do?"

"Yeah actually" Angel replied. "Could you give Cordy a call on her mobile and let her know what's going on, and ask her to pick up an extra pizza, Ham, Pineapple and anchovies is Dawn's favorite if I remember right, and can you ask Fred if she's around here somewhere to set up the suite next to mine and Cordy's room, just incase she does come back."

Wes nodded.

Angel headed towards the door before turning back again. "When you talk to Cordelia can you ask her to ask Conner to head to the supermarket and get as much chocolate as he can find, isn't that what teenage girls like when their upset, chocolate?"

Wesley shrugged "It works for Cordelia"

Angel nods "Well I don't know how long I'll be, so I'll see you when I get back." With that he turns and walks out the door.

End Chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Little bit longer than the last few chapters, I just wanted Dawn and Angel to have a bonding moment. 

Salor Earth: Sorry to disappoint but this does have a few C/A moments, not many because this story wont really focus on pairings. It was essentially just a prequel to another story I was working on, but ended up becoming much longer than I intended.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Sorry, but any Angel/Hank interaction won't happen till the next chapter.

To everyone else who reviewed, Thank You.

Now on with the story.

Chapter 5

Dawn rolled over and buried her face in the pillow trying to stifle the sobs that were racking her body. She'd tried, she really did, but she couldn't sit there with them playing happy families. Watching her father and Cyndi reminded her of the times her mother was there instead, and every time Dawn thought of her mother all the pain would come back and overwhelm her again. All her hopes shattered again. Dawn was mature enough to know that none of this was Cyndi's fault and she could very well be a nice person if Dawn took the time to get to know her, but Dawn's heart wouldn't allow her that time. In the five minutes she'd been at the table her heart broke more every second. Not able to take it anymore she'd asked to be excused, and without waiting for a reply fled to her room. Locking the door she'd flung herself on her bed and ignored her father when he'd knocked on the door angry that she'd left and was being rude with Cyndi here.

Finally able to calm down and get control of her breathing she just laid there with tears silently running down her cheeks.

About ten minutes later she still hadn't moved when she heard a knock on the glass sliding door that led to a small balcony between the two bedrooms. Dawn jumped at the sound and her head instinctively swung up but thinking it was her father trying again she had every intention of ignoring him until she heard a voice call out.

* * *

Angel had found the place pretty easily and after looking around decided to see if she was in one of the bedrooms before actually facing Hank. If Dawn wanted to leave, he'd have to do it, but if she didn't it might be better if Mr Summers didn't have strangers knocking on his door late at night.

He climbed up a pipe on the side of the wall until he reached the fourth floor, and leapt from the pipe onto the small balcony that ran across the building. Looking into the bedroom on the left, he saw it was empty, heading on to the next one he saw that the curtains were almost closed but for a sliver of space that allowed him to peer in and see Dawn laying on the bed.

Knocking quietly he waited for her to open the door. He would have thought she was asleep if she hadn't lifted her head from the pillow, he waited but she just laid down again, knocking wasn't working he called out to her. "Dawn, it's Angel, will you open the door."

This time there was a response, she'd leapt off the bed and swung the curtains open, seeing that it was actually him she opened the door and flung herself into his arms, the tears starting all over again. Angel had to balance himself before slowly lowering them both the floor.

For awhile neither of them moved, Dawn taking comfort in Angels embrace and Angel just smoothing her hair down and whispering comforting words into her ear. But once her tears had subsided again Dawn slowly sat up and turned around to face him.

"What are you doing here Angel" She asked softly.

Angel smiled at her. "I got a call from Buffy saying you were in town, she told me a bit about the phone call you two had and I decided to come around and see how you were doing." He didn't wanna say anything about coming back with him. He wanted her to decide for herself.

"So you know about Dad then?" She asked.

Angel just nodded.

Looking down, she sighed. "I know I shouldn't be this upset, it isn't really that big of a deal but it just..." She couldn't finish.

"Shatters your dream." Angel finished for her

Dawn looked up at him and slowly nodded her head.

"I'm gonna tell you something Dawn, something that stays just between us alright. It's something that only two other people knew, and that's the way it needs to stay ok?"

Dawn nods again.

"Do you remember the first time Buffy came to visit me after I moved to L.A?"

"Yeah, it was right after me and mom came back from visiting Aunt Darlene for Thanksgiving. Buffy told mom she visited Dad but she told me she saw you too, only for about 5 minutes though."

"Well she really was here for 24 hours and in during that time I turned human"

Dawn's hand flew up to her mouth but she didn't say anything so Angel continued. "I still remember every little detail, once I found out it was real, I went looking for your sister, we'd split up to look for a demon that had attacked, the same demon that when it's blood mixed with mine made me human. And when I found her, she was walking along the pier and I walked out into the sunlight and she'd never looked as beautiful as she did in that moment, I walked up to her and we kissed."

Dawn could see he had lost himself in the memories for a minute there before he shook himself out of it.

"We had 24 hours together, those 24 hours were best time in my life"

Dawn waited a moment before speaking. "So why aren't you human now?"

When he looked up at her she could see the anguish in his eyes. "Because your sister and I, we don't belong to ourselves Dawn, we belong in the world fighting, I'm only telling you this because you need to understand that that was my dream, your sister, being human, and everything that entailed. And I've never felt anything that hurt as bad as when I told Buffy time was going to rewind and reverse the day" Even just talking about made a tear come into his eye. "When I told her our dream was about to end, and for her she wouldn't even remember, we held each other, as the seconds counted down, her hugging me so hard I thought I was gonna break and whispering into my ear that she'd never forget. And when the day rewound, I went from having her in my arms to her across the room, her not having any idea what had just happened."

Dawn now had her own tear falling down her face.

Angel took a deep unneeded breath. "When the demon attacked again, I killed it straight off this time and before I knew it, she was gone. And I cried Dawn, I cried more than I'd ever thought possible, everyone has dreams, and they'll change and grow as you get older but every time you realize that your dream is shattered and that all hope is gone, it's gonna hurt you more than you ever thought possible, every time."

Dawn smiled wryly. "Thanks Angel, that's something to look forward to"

Angel gave a low chuckle. "Your welcome, just don't ever feel bad for feeling bad ok?"

"Ok"

"Things change, and things get better, I never thought I would love again like I did Buffy, but I found love with Cordelia also, it's different sure, and I'll always love Buffy but it doesn't make my love for Cordelia any less, do you understand?"

Dawn nodded slowly, "I think so, it's like with dad and Giles, I'll always love dad cause he's my dad and he's always gonna be my dad. But it doesn't mean that I can't love Giles in same way. I'll always love my father, he's not in my life now, but I'll always remember when he was and the love I had for him. Where as Giles now fills that place in my heart."

Angel smiled "Exactly"

Dawn stood up and looked around the room, at her past, before turning back to Angel. "Can I please come with you tonight, Buffy said it was ok, and if it's ok with you I really don't want to be here, I've realized that this is now a piece of my past, and I kinda hope it will stay there, I don't need him anymore, both me and Buffy have moved on and it's obvious he has to. I think he only invited me up here because Cyndi asked him to."

"I would love for you to come Dawn, we've already ordered some ham, pineapple and anchovies pizza, which is just gross by the way-"

Dawn just poked her tongue out. "Is not"

"- and bought a whole lot of chocolate, but if you're feeling better I'll just tell Cordy she can have it"

"You will not" Dawn cried

Angel laughed and put his hands up in front of him "ok, ok, I wont"

Still sitting on the balcony Angel got to his feet. "So how do you wanna tell your father or do you not wanna tell him" Angel had decided he was going to let Mr Summers know anyway but wanted to see if his thought's on Dawn's new found maturity were right.

She stepped out on to the balcony again "As much fun as it would be to just leave." She grinned to show him she was joking, sort of. "I think it would be best if you just came to the front door pretending I called you. An older man walking out of his fifteen year olds bedroom late at night might just make have a stroke. Give me five minutes to freshen up and then ring the doorbell."

"Alright" Giving her a quick kiss on the forehead, he swung himself off of the balcony and landed gracefully on his feet four stories down.

Dawn glanced down at him. "Showoff"

She turned to head back inside but heard a soft "Always"

End Chapter 5


	6. Chapter 6

ka-mia2286: I debated over whether to use the missing day or not but decided just to go for it anyway, so thank you for resting my fears that it was too much.

Chapter 6

After realizing she must have looked horrible to Angel with makeup smeared all over her face, she washed her face clean before grabbing her still packed bag and opening the door just in time to hear the doorbell ring.

Hank Summers rose off of the couch, wondering who could be at the door this late at night. Opening the door he saw a dark haired man standing there. "Can I help you?"

"Uh yeah, I'm here to collect Dawn."

Hank frowned "What do you mean your here to get Dawn" Hearing footsteps coming down the hall he spun around and saw his youngest daughter enter the room. "Dawn what's this man talking about?"

Taking a deep breath Dawn stepped up to her father. "I'm going with Angel dad, I've already spoken to Buffy and she said I could"

"I don't care what Buffy said, your not going anywhere"  
Hank cried angrily.

Angel, still unable to enter the apartment with out an invite, glared at Hank. "I'm sorry Mr Summers' but if Dawn wants to leave, no one, even her father" The three occupants in the room heard the disdain clearly in his voice. "Is going to make her stay somewhere she doesn't want to. Now, I'm taking Dawn with me, you can let her go peacefully, or you can hurt her more by arguing, either way it's your call."

He looked back at his youngest daughter and saw that once more she was close to tears.

Dawn tilted her head so she was looking him straight in the eyes "I'm sorry, I just can't stay here, the memories, they hurt too much."

Hank sighed. He too had realized that they just didn't fit in each others lives anymore, He'd been gone to long and both his girls had moved on, if he insisted on Dawn staying here, it would only lead to her becoming more and more upset and he didn't want to cause her anymore pain than she'd already had to endure. Sighing again he leaned over and gave her a quick and awkward hug. "Ok Dawn, but will you meet me tomorrow morning for breakfast and I'll give you your birthday money then"

Dawn looked up, surprise clearly showing on her face. "You remember my birthday?"

Hank looked slightly hurt "Of course I remembered you birthday, who else do you think puts money into your bank account every year."

Dawn shook her head, "Dad, I don't have a bank account, Buffy has one at the First Bank Of Sunnydale but I don't."

"You both have one in the National here in L.A, I've put money in there every month since you girls have left. That's the way your mother wanted it.

Dawn's shocked look returned before she shook it off. "Umm ok" She looked over at Angel.

"Whatever you want Dawn"

"Ok dad, I'll meet you for breakfast, but it's just gonna be you right?" She glanced apologetically over to Cyndi, "I'm sorry, I'm sure your really nice and all but it just hurts"

Cyndi smiled at the beautiful girl in front of her and nodded in understanding. "It's ok Dawn, really, don't worry about it, I understand."

Dawn gave her a grateful smile. "Thank you"

After taking a quick look at his fiancé to make sure it was indeed ok, he nodded to his youngest. "Just me,"

Nodding in return Dawn stepped outside the door and stood with Angel, "Mike's at 8 o'clock"

"Yes, we'll talk more there ok?"

"Ok" With that she turned around and started walking down the stairs.

Angel turned to follow but was stopped by a hand on his arm. "You'll look after her right, we might not be close but she's still my daughter."

Angel nodded once. "With my life" before he turned and followed Dawn.

Not understanding it in the slightest, but something in Hank Summers believed that man, and believed that he'd done the right thing in letting Dawn go. That didn't mean he wasn't going to call Buffy himself and check. Running his hand through his thinning hair he grabbed the phone and dialed the number for his eldest.

* * *

Buffy heard the phone start ring as soon as she put the toothbrush in her mouth. "Of course" She muttered. Throwing her toothbrush in the sink she picked the phone up, pressing the on button she put it to her ear. "Angel?"

"No Buffy, it's your father."

Her anger at her father instantly kicked in. "What do you want?"

"I want to know why you sent a stranger here to get your little sister?"

At the tone of his voice Buffy almost growled. "1, Angels not a stranger, we've both known him for over 6 years and 2, I asked him to see if she was okay, if Dawn left it was because Dawn wanted to go, all I did was tell her that if she wasn't happy there she didn't have to stay, and speaking of her not being happy, how dare you take her up there and throw all of this on her at once, she may be more mature than most fifteen years olds but she still just a kid" Buffy paused for a second, glad that Dawn wasn't here to hear her say that before continuing. "What, did you think that you told her you were getting remarried that she would want to throw you your engagement party, come on dad" She said the last word sarcastically. "You know how she felt when you and mom divorced, she was upset for months, now it's not even a year after mom died and your getting married again. You have to know how hard that is for her."

Hank visibly deflated. "I know, I realized now that I should have handled this a lot better, but I didn't. I can't change it but I don't want to cause her any more pain, either of you. That's why I let her go, I just had to check and make sure she was safe with Mr Angel."

Buffy laughed lightly. "It's just Angel, and she's couldn't be in safer hands, I trust Angel with my life, but more importantly, I trust him with Dawn's and that's not given lightly."

"Ok, I'll be meeting her for breakfast in the morning, is there anything you want me to tell her?" Hank said tiredly.

Buffy shook her head before realizing her couldn't see her through the phone. "No, I should be getting a call from Angel any minute, I'll talk to Dawn myself."

"Ok Buffy, I'll go now but believe me I am sorry for the hurt I caused her."

"I believe you, but it's not gonna make it any easier for her."

"I know, good bye Buffy"

"Bye dad."

* * *

Once he'd put Dawn's bag onto the backseat he took his cell phone out of his jacket pocket and held it out to her. "Do you wanna call your sister, and let her know your staying with me?"

Taking the phone out of his hand, she nodded. Dialing the number she waited for an answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey Buffy"

"Dawnie, you ok, dad just called and told me you'd left with Angel"

"Yeah, I couldn't stay there Buffy, not yet anyway, so I asked Angel and he said I could stay at the Hotel with him."

"I knew you could"

Dawn flashed Angel a quick smile before turning her attention back to the phone. "So you and Xander still coming up tomorrow, right."

"Actually" Buffy said. "Willow wants to visit Cordy, apparently they've been keeping in contact through e-mail and stuff, so we're borrowing Xander's car and driving up, Xander's gonna swing the patrol with Spike while were gone, so soon as I finish work, have a shower and change my clothes we'll leave, should be up there around 7.30, that ok?"

"Yeah that's fine, so I'll see you tomorrow?"

"You will, I love you sweetie"

"Love you to Buffy, do you wanna talk to Angel?"

"Yeah just for a minute"

"Ok I'll put him on, bye Buff." She took the phone away from her ear and passed it back to Angel.

"Yeah Buffy?"

Dawn couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the phone but after a lot of 'Uh huh' and 'no's and a 'your welcome' she pretty much got the gist of it.  
Angel flipped the phone closed and turned back to Dawn "You ready to go now."

At her nod, they both got into the car and drove away.

End Chapter 6

A/N: Know that when I was writing this I had every intention of torturing Hank but my muse just lead me to a completely different place. Sorry if you were looking for major Hank bashing.


	7. Chapter 7

Thanks for the reviews, I love to hear what people think especially as this is my first real fic. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Connor is 18 in this fic, I don't think anybody actually said how old he was on the show but if they did, let me know and I'll change it.

Jubie91: I can't promise anything, This was supposed to be a 'Dawn goes to L.A, Dawn meet's Conner, Conner comes to Sunnydale' which is where the original story was meant to be set. I just wanted to give it a bit of a background first, I wont promise but I will try.

Faith-Catherine: I'm glad you like it.

Chapter 7

The drive to the Hyperion was short and the passengers rode in silence. When they arrived outside the hotel, Dawn was surprised to see how big it was, Willow had told her it was big but never said it was this big, it was massive. She was jolted out of her thought by Angel's light touch on her arm.

"You wanna go inside?" He asked.

"Oh yeah"

They entered to find a six people sitting around a couple of desk's eating pizza. Dawn recognized three of them as Faith, Cordelia and what she believed to be the back of Wesley's head but had no idea who the other three were, though she did notice both the guys were hotties.

Cordelia jumped up and walked over to them. Giving Angel a brilliant smile, she gave him a quick kiss before putting her arm around Dawn's shoulders and leading her over to the table. "I believe we have a monstrosity of a pizza here with your name on it."

Dawn grinned at her. "It's not that bad."

Cordelia grimaced. "Oh yes it is, the only other person here that could even stomach it was Connor, and that's not saying much considering where he grew up"

At the young man's scowl Cordelia just gave him a bright smile, and gently guided the young woman into the seat in between Connor and herself.

"Yo, Cordy, you gonna introduce us or what?" Gunn asked from the other side of the table.

"Oh sorry Dawn, that lunkhead over there is Gunn, next to him is Fred." They both gave a small wave that Dawn returned. "You've probably already guessed, but next to you is Connor." Dawn gave him a shy smile. "and I'm sure you remember Wesley and Faith."

Dawn wasn't sure what to think about Faith being out of jail, so she turned to face the other man mentioned, and he mouth fell open in shock "Wussley Wimpy-Spice?" Dawn said surprised at his new look before realizing exactly what she had said and shutting her mouth with an audible click.

Everybody else burst out in laughter all around the table and Wesley started blushing profusely.

Dawn groaned. "I'm so sorry Wesley, it's just that's what Buffy used to say and it just came out."

Wesley held up his hand. "That's quite alright Dawn, I was rather... wimpy back in Sunnydale, I'd like to think I've grown since then though."

Faith slapped him on the back "Don't worry Wes, your a real bad-ass when it comes to kicking demon ass now, no sign of Wussley Wimpy-Spice anywhere."

At the mention of the name both Gunn and Faith started laughing again.

Wesley shook his head. "Yeah, Yeah laugh it up, we'll see who'll be laughing when you don't receive you paychecks this week."

They both stopped abruptly and Wesley leaned back in his chair, a self satisfied smile on his face. Well that was till his chair fell backwards with him on it and sent the whole table into laughter again.

* * *

By the time dinner had finished, Dawn already decided that she had a big time crush on Connor Angel. The irony certainly didn't escape her. Buffy's little sister falling for Angel's son, that was definitely one for the crazy books, but he sat there looking so adorable with his hair falling over his eyes and every few minutes he'd give her a smile that would make her breath catch in her throat. What was a girl supposed to do?

Dawn was so lost in her thoughts that when she looked up, Gunn was handing Fred her coat and saying something about walking her home, and both Wesley and Connor were grabbing some books off the front counter.

"I'll take these books home and continue researching for any mention of the 'miracle child' in relation to any prophecy's"

"Thank Wes" Angel said, wanting to find out everything he can about the prophecy's that had his son in them.

Connor peeked out from behind the stack of books that Wesley had piled in his arms. "I'm gonna take these out to the car and then do a quick patrol downtown."

Angel nodded "Give me a minute and I'll meet you outside and go with you."

Angel couldn't see his son's reply from the books that covered his face but since he didn't say anything before he left the hotel he assumed that it was alright. Turning to Dawn he smiled when he saw her yawn. "There should be a room ready for you upstairs, it's right next to mine so if you need anything just go next door I shouldn't be gone too long ok?"

Dawn gave him a tired nod "It's fine Angel, go beat up the bad guys"

Angel looked around and saw that Cordelia was helping Wesley with some more of the more delicate scrolls he looked at Faith. "You can show her to her room right."

"No problem boss"

"Ok good, I'll see you in the morning Dawnie" He gave her a kiss on the forehead before sweeping out of the room.

Faith gave her a quick smile. "C'mon little D, I'll show you to your room"

They were halfway up the stairs when the front door was yanked open and Connor rushed in. He stopped when he saw them on the stairs. "Dad said you were going to bed"

Dawn nodded.

"I just wanted to say goodnight" He gave her another breathtaking smile before turning and leaving through the still open door.

Dawn stood there unable to move until Faith grabbed her arm. "C'mon Juliet" she said laughter evident in her voice.

"Huh"

"Juliet, you know, Shakespeare?"

"I know, but huh?"

Faith laughed. "Well, when B finds out about your little lover boy there, yours will be the forbidden love."

Dawn looked back over to the door that Connor had left through, a smile on her face before turning around and following Faith up the stairs.

Entering the room Angel had given her she was surprised to find it was like a little apartment. The first room you entered was the sitting room, it had a little kitchen adjoined to it, with two doors leading to other rooms.

"Through that door" Faith said pointing to the door on the left "Is the main bedroom, the other is another small bedroom. The main also has an ensuite, there should be everything you need in there but just call if you need something, I'm down the hall, I'll hear ya."

Dawn nodded.

Faith's face turned serious for a minute. "Little D, there's something I wanna say"

Dawn stopped her. "Faith it's ok" When Faith went to protest she held up her hand. "No really, Things happened, I get that, but if your here working for Angel and he trusts you then it's ok, there's nothing that needs to be said."

Faith gave her a small smile before turning for the door. "Remember what I said, you need anything, Yell"

Dawn returned the smile. "I will"

"Good, see you tomorrow Little D" Then she left, closing the door softly behind her.

Dawn sighed wearily before opening the door to the main bedroom.

Throwing herself on the bed Dawn was surprised to realize that she hadn't thought of her father or his upcoming wedding since she had arrived at the Hyperion. Knowing she would be seeing him in the morning she turned her thoughts to more pleasant things. Namely a Mr Connor Angel.

She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

End Chapter 7.


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to all who reviewed. Hope you like this chapter. 

Chapter 8

When Dawn woke the next morning it took her a few seconds to remember where she was. Dad, remarried, Angel, Hyperion, Connor. With that thought the smile returned to her face, that was till she looked around and spotted an alarm clock on the bedside table that read 7.15am.

"Holy crap, I'm gonna be late" she jumped out of bed, grabbed her bag and rushed into the bathroom.

* * *

Dawn descended the stairs still brushing her slightly wet hair with a huge sigh of relief realizing she still had twenty minutes to meet her father for breakfast. She entered the kitchen intent on getting at least one cup of coffee before she had to go when she saw Cordelia sitting at the table flipping through the newspaper. "Morning Cordy"

"Good morning Dawnie" Folding the paper she wasn't really reading anyway, Cordelia got up, poured a cup of coffee and handed it to Dawn before refilling her own cup. "Milk and sugars on the table"

"Thanks" Dawn gave herself a decent amount of both before talk a long sip and sighing happily.

"You nearly ready to go?"

Dawn took another sip. "Yep, ready when you are"

"Alright, I'll just go grab the keys and we'll leave" Finishing the last of her coffee, Cordelia put her cup in the sink before leaving the room.

Dawn followed suit, placing her own cup in the sink she finished brushing her hair, putting the brush in her bag she entered the lobby at the same Cordelia exited the office.

Cordelia held up the keys triumphantly, a grin forming on her face. "I snagged the keys to the Angel-mobile, quick lets get out of here" They both giggled and ran out to the car.

Once they were seated, Cordelia put the top down and started the car. When they were on the road Dawn turned to look at Cordelia. "Thanks for this Cordy, for taking me to meet dad I mean."

"It's no problem Dawn, When Angel got home last night he told me about the breakfast thing this morning and I said I'd drive you." She quickly sent her a smile so Dawn knew she meant it. "Oh, before I forget, grab the cell phone out of the glove box, it's Angel's but take it with you, that way you can call if you need me to come and get you."

Dawn took the phone and put it in her bag. "I think dad will drive me back to the hotel but I'll take it just in case."

Cordelia pulled the car up in front of the diner. "This is it right?"

Dawn glanced out the window and nodded "Yup" She took her seat belt off and got out of the car. "Thanks again Cordy"

"No prob Dawnie, and remember call if you need me to come get you"

"I will" Dawn said before stepping away and watching as Cordelia drove off. Turning around she stared at the outside of the building, it didn't look any different from when she used to come here with her father every Saturday when she still lived in L.A, taking a deep breath she entered the diner. Looking around she spotted her father sitting in one of the booth's near the back with a cup of coffee in front of him, reading the paper.

It wasn't until she sat down that he noticed her. "Good morning Dawn" He said smiling at her.

Dawn gave him a smile of her own. "Morning dad"

He looked up and nodded to the waitress behind the counter. "I've already ordered the usual, was just waiting for you to get here."

"Why, do you have somewhere else you'd rather be." It came out a little harsher than she intended.

"No, Well I do have to go to the office for a little while but not until about 10:30, I just thought you might want to go to the bank for your birthday money so you could do some shopping while you were here in L.A, that, and to prove to you that I never forgot your birthday." He said slightly hurt.

"Oh, sorry" Dawn said feeling a little guilty at her outburst.

Hank sighed "It's ok, I guess I deserved that."

"No, I'm sorry dad, it's just things are all..., I'm sorry ok?"

He gave her another smile. "Your forgiven."

Breakfast passed rather smoothly after that, they talked about everyday things, how school was going, her friends, books they'd read, movies they'd seen. Dawn was grateful when he didn't mention anything about Cyndi or their upcoming wedding and before she knew it, it was 9 o'clock and they had arrived at the bank.

"Mr Summers?"

Both Hank and Dawn rose when the name was called and entered into the small office of the Financial Advisor.

"What can I help you with today Mr Summers'?" Her name tag read Evette.

"I'd like to check up on the account I set up for my daughters and also arrange for some sort of debit card for Dawn."

"Alright, if I could just get the account details and some identification please?"

Hank nodded and took out the card he was given all those years ago, and also his drivers license from his wallet. He placed them on the desk in front of him.

Evette took both cards and started tapping on the keyboard in front of her. Apparently satisfied she handed both cards back to Hank and looked over at them. The first account, in the name of Dawn Marie Summers has a current balance of 19,033.98.

Dawn sat straight up, "I'm sorry did you say 19,000.

"19,033.98, yes"

Dawn looked over at her father and even he seemed a little surprised. She saw him shrug and look up to Evette again. "And Buffy's?"

She tapped a few more buttons on the keyboard. "19,233.98"

Hank thought for a moment before turning to face Dawn. "That's because I've already put two hundred dollars in for her birthday this year, I'll be giving you yours today."

He glanced over at the Financial Advisor again. "Not that I mind, but I've only put two hundred dollers in each account every month." He turned to look back at Dawn. "When you're mother and I divorced she told me she wanted the child support payments to be split in half between you and Buffy. That's exactly what I did, I just thought she would know I was putting extra in on your birthday's." He paused for a moment. "I guess I should've told her."

Evette started tapping the keyboard again "It seems that because the accounts haven't been touched apart from the monthly deposits in six years, they both gained six percent interest every year.

Dawn had barely heard anything since the Financial Advisor had told her there was 19,000 dollars in her and Buffy's account, no more money problems, and no more doublemeant for Buffy. Dawn grinned. She tuned back into the conversation and they were talking about a debit card with a limit. She interrupted. "Dad the money from my previous birthday's is mine right?"

Hank nodded.

"Well cant we just keep that money in my account and the rest in Buffy's?" she asked.

Hank stated to protest. "Dawn this money is to provide for you in your future."

Dawn stopped him. "But we need for it to provide us now, Buffy didn't get to finish college because mom died and she dropped out to look after me. She's working at the Doublemeat Palace just to stay afloat with all the bills that keep piling in, and she also has other commitments that she has to keep. You saw her dad, she's exhausted all the time. This would give her the chance to relax and actually be able to find a better job, Please." She pleaded.

Hank had to admit, in the ten minutes that he'd actually spoken to Buffy she did look run down, but he had no idea about where she was working, she never said a word to him about needing money, then again, why would she, he shows up on her doorstep after two and a half years and no word from him, he wouldn't be very chatty either.

"Alright Dawn" He turned to the Evette. "Can you transfer all but one thousand in Buffy's account."

Evette nodded and with a few strokes of the keyboard gave them a wide smile. "Done"

"I would also like a debit card for each of the girl's sent to their home address in Sunnydale and well as a cheque book for Buffy."

Evette looked over the personal details "The address we were given when the account was opened, was 1630 Revello Drive, Sunnydale, California is that still correct?"

Dawn nodded.

"It also says here that Buffy would now be 21."

Dawn and Hank both nodded again.

"That was the age restriction on the account, before she needed you or Joyce Summers to sign for her, are you willing to sign a release form and allow me to change that?"

"Yes, I would also like to change that on Dawn's account, as my ex-wife has passed away, I want Buffy to be able to do anything Dawn needs with her own account."

"Ok, I'll be back in a minute with the forms you need to sign." She walked out of the office and Hank turned to face Dawn.

"Are money problems really that bad?" He asked seriously.

Dawn shifted uncomfortably. "No, I mean, Buffy provides everything I need but she just has to work so many long hours it's really taking it's toll on her, this money will give her the chance to find another job that isn't so time demanding and that will pay better, she never had that breathing space before, she tried to hide it from me but mom's medical bills cost more than her life insurance covered, so she's been trying to pay those off as well as the mortgage and all the other monthly bills we get, it's just too much." Dawn sighed.

Hank squeezed her shoulder gently. "I'm sure things will get better, and this will help ok?"

Dawn nodded but before she could say anything the Financial Advisor entered the room again and handed her father a handful of forms. She sat there quietly as he signed them all and they stood to leave. She looked back at Evette "Can I get a statement thingy, of Buffy's account so I can give it to her?"

Evette nodded. "Sure, the debit cards and the cheque book should also arrive sometime next week" Grabbing the printout from the printer she handed it to Dawn.

Dawn looked down and grinned at the balance 37,267.96.

After a quick stop at one of the tellers in the bank Dawn was surprised to see it was already 10.10am.

Handing her the two hundred dollars he'd just taken from Dawn's account and another two hundred from his wallet he glanced down at his watch and noticed the time. "I'm sorry Dawn, I have to get to work soon, c'mon, I'll drive you back, you just have to tell me the address"

After giving him the address to the hotel, they pulled up out the front and Dawn leaned over and gave her father a kiss on the cheek before jumping straight out of the car and watching him drive away with a smile on her face. Not only had he given them an immense amount of money, he also hadn't lied when he said he remembered their birthday each year. Letting out a happy sigh she turned around and headed into the hotel.

End Chapter 8


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Glad you liked the last chapter, Thanx for all you reviews and I hope you enjoy this one. 

Chapter 9

Connor looked up from his position on the couch where he was polishing the weapons used on last night's patrol and smiled when he saw Dawn enter the hotel.

"How was breakfast?" He asked.

Dawn nearly skipped over to the seat and threw herself down with a grin on her face. "It was great, well a bit awkward at first but then it was great!"

"So you had a good time then" He concluded grinning at her enthusiasm.

By this time Dawn had remembered who exactly she was talking to, and started to blush lightly. Getting nervous she just nodded and looked around for something to say that wouldn't be entirely pathetic, and zeroed in on the weapons. "You want a hand with those?"

Connor shook his head. "No, just finishing of the last one from last night's patrol"

Dawn sighed and leaned back. "I wish Buffy would let me patrol, but all I get is 'your too young' or 'you would just get hurt'" She snorted. "Well yeah, if I don't get training of course I'll get hurt, she completely overlooks the fact that I continue to get kidnapped by every scaly thing that wants to hurt the Slayer, as least if I had some training I'd have more of a chance of escaping. But that's blonde for ya." She ranted.

Connor put the last of the weapons back in the cupboard and turned to face her. "I could show you some basics if you want." He gave her another smile and Dawn nearly melted on the spot.

She looked up at him nervously. "Are you sure, you don't have to?"

"No, I want to, come on." He led her down to the training room Angel had set up in the basement. Once down there he took off his shoes and socks, motioning for Dawn to do the same and then removed his t-shirt.

Removing her own footwear Dawn looked up and saw a very hot and very shirtless Conner. Trying to balance while taking her socks off and not moving her eyes from Connor turned out to be impossible as she lost her balance and fell backwards with a soft "Oomph"

Looking over from where he was inspecting the weapons he saw a Dawn sitting on the floor. "Are you ok?"

Blushing profusely Dawn just nodded and stood back up incredibly grateful he hadn't seen her ungraceful fall.

He decided to forgo the weapons and just start with hand to hand first. Moving over he stood next to her and moved into fighting stance. "Now, the first thing you need to learn is balance..."

* * *

An hour and a half later, after ringing Angel's mobile and finding it in the lobby, and conducting a search of the hotel Cordelia found them in the training room, Dawn was standing in the centre of the room, a sword in her hand, with Connor behind her, his hands over hers, slowly guiding the sword threw the air.

Feeling Angel come up behind her and gently wrap his arms around her waist she leaned back and rested her head on his chest.

"Look familiar?" He asked in a whisper, not wanting to disturb the teen's.

She sighed. "Yep, it's the Buffy and Angel rerun show."

He spun her around to face him and kissed her softly. "I was thinking more along the lines of our old training sessions."

"I'm ok with it Angel, I am, but seriously you cant tell me it doesn't remind you of you and Buffy."

He looked up to see that Dawn had spun around and now they were lost in each other's eyes, and had a brief flash of a training session with Buffy that seemed eerily familiar. "Maybe it does." He admitted. "But Connor's not me, and Dawn's not Buffy. Maybe they can make work what we couldn't." He looked back down at Cordelia. "That doesn't mean I would change anything, I'm happy where I am, and that's with you. Forever and Always. I love you Cor." He whispered.

"I love you too." Wrapping her arms around the back of his neck she kissed him, all of her feeling and all of her passion forced into one kiss, reaffirming her love for him.

"God, get a room." They broke apart and found both Dawn and Connor pretending to gag with wide grins on their faces.

Giving them a mock glare they glanced at each other and Angel nodded. "I'll get Dawn, can you handle Connor?"

"You bet I can"

Dawn now realizing what they were talking about started to back away. "No, no way, please Angel, don't do this."

Giving her an evil smirk, worthy of Angelus, Angel started to advance towards her.

Dawn gave a loud squeal and took off running, only to realize the training room only had one exit. The one right behind Angel, she started begging again.

Meanwhile Connor had no idea what was happening, judging by Dawn's reaction he decided whatever it was wasn't good and started moving backwards too, Cordelia chasing after him.

Ten minutes later the four of them were collapsed on the training room floor in a fit or giggles. Angel had caught Dawn pretty easily before attacking her with tickles, Conner had lasted an impressive 28 seconds longer before being caught by Cordelia and tortured in a similar fashion.

Once they had all managed to catch their breaths, Angel inquired about her breakfast with her father.

Dawn explained about the money in her and Buffy's accounts and what that would mean for them, and also the money for her birthday.

"You know what that means, don't you?" Cordelia said.

Dawn grinned at her. "Shopping!" Both girls cried.

"What's this about shopping?" Faith asked, poking her head though the door.

Standing up Cordelia grinned. "Dawnie got money from her dad, we're going shopping."

"Cool, Wes's got everyone's paychecks up here, you mind if I come along Little D?"

"Not at all" Dawn said. She turned to look at Connor. "You wanna come with."

Connor shrugged and was about to agree when Angel cut in. "I don't think so. It's my fatherly duty to save my son from that kind of torture"

Cordelia poked her tongue out at him. "Spoilsport"

Angel grinned at her. "Yup, the poor boy would never recover from shopping with you alone, let alone all three of you put together."

"I been shopping with Cordelia before dad." Connor argued.

"That was for your clothes son, Cordelia shopping for Cordelia is never something you want to experience, think of the worst pain imaginable, then times it by a hundred." He said seriously.

Connor shuddered at the thought. "On second thought I might just stay home."

"Sorry Cordy but your worse then B" Faith added.

"I so am not" Cordelia protested.

"You so are" Faith countered.

"She couldn't possibly" Dawn said.

"Oh yes she could."

The two males watched as they bantered back and forth, their heads swinging so fast it's surprising they didn't get whiplash before Angel held his hands up and yelled. "Alright"

The three women stopped and turned to him and he withered a little under their glares. He gave them a nervous smile. "I'm just gonna go upstairs now, come on Connor." He grabbed his sons shoulder and pushed him up the stairs in his haste to get out of the room.

The girls let out a giggle as Connor tripped over his feet from his father's shove and nearly fell on his face.

Cordelia looked over at the two brunette's. "C'mon, now's the perfect time to ask for the car."

The three women, a Slayer, a Seer and a Key entered the lobby to find Angel and Connor slumped on the lounge and Wesley behind the desk, an amused smile on his face obviously having heard about the training room.

Walking over to Angel, Cordelia sat on his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Sweetie?"

"Yes?" Angel asked warily.

"You love me don't you?"

"You know I do Cor. What do you want?"

Looking over at her partners in crime, she saw them trying to hold back their laughter. Turning back to Angel she gave him a hundred watt smile. "Will you let us borrow your car to go shopping."

"Cordelia, you took it this morning!" He cried.

Cordelia nodded her head. "I know but Dawn was in a very delicate mood this morning, she was going to a very emotional breakfast, we couldn't have made the girl walk all that way. And she really needs to be cheered up, look at the poor girl."

Dawn surpressed her grin and placed a suitably distressed look over her features, making sure to use the puppy dogs eyes to their full potential.

Angel groaned. He was a sucker and he knew it. "Fine you can take the car, just be careful." He warned.

With a laugh, Cordelia gave him a quick kiss and jumped off his lap. "C-mon ladies, shopping times a-wasting"

The three grabbed their purses and left the hotel, their laughter still echoing long after they were gone.

End Chapter.

A/N 2: Next chapter, Willowand Buffy arrive, and Cordelia has a vision.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter - m, Moonjava, immortalwizardpirateelf-fan, and Katie. Hope you like this one. 

To Faith-Catherine, I'll try to keep updating everyday. This story only has about 3 or 4 more chaps left, then I'll post the sequel. Hope you'll keep reading.

On with the story...

Chapter 10

When the girls entered the Hyperion lobby six hours later, each with several bags in each hand they found Buffy and Willow in the lobby with the rest of the gang.

Dawn looked at the watch on her wrist and saw that it was only 7:15 pm. Racing down the last few steps she threw herself into her sister's arms. "Buffy, you're early."

Buffy smiled and hugged her back. "Traffic was pretty much non existent so were got here earlier than expected. Did you have fun shopping?"

Pulling back Dawn grinned. "I didn't think it was possible, but Cordelia is worse than you, though Faith isn't far behind." Her grin got even wider when she heard both girls yell "Hey."

Buffy couldn't help but return her smile. "So you had fun?"

"Yep." as she suddenly remembered she spun to look at Angel.

"I didn't tell her Dawn, I thought I would leave that for you."

Buffy looked between the two nervously. "Uh, tell me what?"

Dawn glanced back at her sister. "You're never gonna believe this." Running back to where she dropped her bags, she rummaged though her purse and came up with what she was looking for. "Check this out Buffy?" This time a smile of pure happiness fell over her beautiful features.

Glancing wearily between her sister and her ex-lover Buffy slowly unfolded the paper and looked down.

After nearly a full minute, Willow started to get worried. Taking a step forward she looked at Buffy. "Buffy, are you ok?"

When Buffy finally looked up everyone could see the tears that had formed in her eyes. Focusing on Dawn, she couldn't help the tremor in her voice. "Is this for real?"

"Yeah Buff, dad's been putting money in there since we moved to Sunnydale, well he did split it up between our accounts but I moved all but my birthday money into yours. Out debit cards and your cheque book should arrive in the mail sometime next week. He said he's put money in there every year for our birthdays too, he just thought we knew about it, obviously mom forgot to tell you before she died."

Throwing the paper on the ground, Buffy pulled her little sister into her arms and nearly sobbed into her shoulder.

Rubbing her back Dawn whispered softly into her ear. "It's gonna be ok Buff."

Everyone in the lobby looked away and gave the longest lived Slayer in history time to compose herself.

Pulling back Buffy wiped the tears from her eyes, took a deep breath and bent down to pick up the statement from the floor. "I can't believe it." She murmured, her eyes reading the total amount over and over again.

Willow, unsure of what exactly was happening, walked over and placed her arm around Buffy's shoulder and giving her a quick hug. "What's going on Buffy?"

Buffy handed her the bank statement. "Check it out Will."

The red head witch quickly scanned her eyes over the page trying to find what had caused her best friends near breakdown. When she reached the bottom her eyes near bulged out of their sockets. "Whoa"

A full blown smile came over Buffy's face. "Yeah a big whoa. Guess what this means."

Willow looked up, slightly confused. "What?"

Meanwhile Dawn had a good idea of what her sister was talking about. "No more Doublemeat?" She ventured.

"No more Doublemeat" Buffy agreed. All three women grinned at each other, until they heard Angel clear his throat softly reminding them they were there.

Spinning around Buffy grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, forgot where we were for a moment."

Angel returned her smile. "No problem. I was thinking if you girls didn't wanna leave right away maybe we could all go out for dinner, there's a Chinese restaurant down the road and from what Cordy says there one of the best in town. What do you think?"

Buffy nodded. "I want to call my father first, if that's ok, but yeah I'm good with that, Dawn? Willow?"

Both girls nodded.

"Ok good, Buffy there's a phone in my office" He pointed out the door. "You can call your father from there, is everyone else good to go?"

"I've gotta go put this stuff away boss." Faith said holding up the bags in her hands.

"Yeah me too" Cordelia said before giving Angel a quick kiss and walking upstairs, Faith right behind her.

Dawn went over to talk to Willow. "So how was your trip?"

* * *

Buffy pulled the piece of paper that had her father's phone number out of her pocket and dialed the number. Putting the phone to her ear she waited for him to answer.

"Hello?"

"Dad, it's Buffy."

"Hi Buffy, what can I do for you?" Hank asked.

"I just called to say thank you, you have no idea what you've done for us today." Buffy replied.

"Really it's no problem. I may not have been there Buffy but it doesn't mean I never thought about you or that I stopped caring. I've made a lot of mistakes, and I know that I may never be able to make them up to you and Dawn, but I do love you both."

Buffy took a deep breath and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to fall. "Why didn't you come when mom was sick, when everything fell apart and I needed you, when we both needed you. I didn't know what to do, I couldn't help myself let alone Dawn and we needed you daddy." Buffy voice cracked on the last word and she lost the battle, her tears falling down her face.

Hank could feel his own eyes filling up with tears as his eldest daughter wept over the phone. "I swear Buffy, I didn't know Joyce was sick until after she passed away, and I wanted to come back, I did, but I was scared. I know it's no excuse but it's the reason."

Buffy tried to swallow the lump that was in her throat. "Scared of what?"

"Scared that you wouldn't want me there, or that you wouldn't need me. That you would hate me for not being there sooner." He pleaded, trying to make her understand. "It was cowardly I know, but it was easier staying away and believing that you were ok, then to come and know that you hated me as much as I hated myself."

Buffy's breath caught. "We never hated you dad, we were upset, yes, but we never hated you. We just wanted you with us."

"I'm sorry" It was all he could say.

"I know." Buffy sighed. "And we're ok now, things still get hard sometimes but we make it though, and our friends have been there every step of the way." She wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "I didn't call to talk about this anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for the money, it will be a huge help at home."

Hank smiled. "I'm glad Buffy, and know if you need anything all you have to do is call. I'll be going back to Spain on Wednesday, I have to finish up things there but I'll be back in the states in about two weeks. I have no plans to leave again anytime in the future, call and I will do everything I can to help."

"I will" Buffy replied. "I gotta go now, we're going out for dinner before we head back to Sunnydale. But I'll talk to you soon maybe?" She left it an open question.

"You will." He promised.

"Alright, Goodbye daddy"

"Goodbye sweetheart." Buffy smiled as she put the phone back in it's cradle, it was the first term of endearment he'd used since she was 16.

She knew that there was allot of things that needed to be discussed, and needed to be sorted out, but for the first time she believed that everything will be ok.

She was jerked out of her thought's by Dawn screaming her name from the lobby. "Thought too soon" She muttered before running out of the office..

She entered to find Cordelia cradled in Angel's arms holding her head in pain. She looked around quickly, seeing no demon's she assumed the problem was Cordelia. "What happened, is she ok."

Angel glanced up quickly before looking back to the woman in his arm's. "She'll be fine, she's just having a vision."

Buffy suddenly found herself admiring Cordelia slightly, the vision's looked like they hurt an awful lot and by the reaction's from the L.A team they happened pretty often.

Cordelia groaned and sat up slowly. "Vampires, about 30, and a dozen demons, not sure what species, they're planning on attacking the nightclub on 21st avenue, if you're fast enough you can get them before they get there. There in vacant store 3 shops down, you've got about 15 minutes"

Angel looked up at Buffy apologetically. "I'm sorry, looks like dinner's off."

Buffy gave him a light smile. "No problem, demon fight's just as fun."

"Alright, Faith, Buffy, you're with me. Gunn, you can go get dinner, Cordelia's gonna need something to eat and then rest, pizza again?" He asked. Everyone nodded. "You know what to get." He said to Gunn.

"Got it boss" Gunn replied and left.

"Good. Fred, Wes, get a description of the demons from Cordy and find out what we're dealing with. Call me on my cell phone and let me know." The both nodded, helped Cordelia stand and went to Wesley's office where most of the books were kept.

Willow faced them. "I'll help in the research, without my magic, I won't really be a whole lotta help in the field" Her face showing her guilt at not being able to help but before Buffy could say anything she'd already disappeared into Wesley's office.

"What about us?" Connor asked.

"I want you two to stay here."

"What?" Both teens cried.

"You heard me, you're staying here."

"But dad" Connor argued. "I know how to fight, and you'll need more than just the three of you."

Buffy raised her eyebrows. "Dad?"

Angel gave her a look that said clearly 'Not now' before turning back to his son. "Yes you do, but Dawn's doesn't and I'm not leaving her here by herself."

"So let me come with, I'll use the crossbow and stay behind you all the whole time, no hand to hand fighting." Dawn suggested hopefully.

Angel looked to Buffy. She sighed and nodded her head. "We don't really have time to argue, but you stay behind us ok."

Dawn grinned at her sister and nodded her head. "The entire time."

"Alright people, grab you weapons and let's go." He pulled open the weapons cupboard and pulled out his favorite axe. Faith grabbed a sword, as did Buffy. Connor grabbed an axe like his father and grabbed a container of bolts and the crossbow for Dawn.

Each person also grabbed a few stakes and they all headed for the door.

End chapter 10.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: I find it funny the day after I say I will update everyday is the one day I don't lol. Sorry bout that, wasn't able to get on the comp all day but here's the next chapter. And again, Thanx for all your reviews. 

A/N 2: The fight scenes really are pretty much non existent cause I'm horrible at them but I wanted to put a little action in the story.

Chapter 11.

The1967 Plymouth GTXpulled up outside the abandoned shop exactly twelve minutes later and all five passengers climbed out.

"Ok guys, you know the drill" Angel called out. "Buffy, you and Faith see if you can find a back entrance. Both Slayers nodded and took off down the side alley. "Conner, your with me we'll go in the front, and Dawn, I want you to cover us, take out as many vamps as you can from afar. I don't want you to resort to hand to hand alright?"

Dawn just nodded, glad to be out with them.

Faith looked over at Buffy as they quietly made their way through the alley. "So B" She said conversationally. "How are things in Sunnydale?"

Buffy glanced over at her sister Slayer. On one hand she thought Faith deserved to be in prison, but on the other, Angel obviously trusted her as well as his entire team in L.A, even Cordelia who was defiantly not one of Faith's supporters in Sunnydale. "Pretty quiet actually, well we seem to have a slight nerd infestation" At Faith's quizzical look she just shook her head. "That'll be taken care of soon enough. What about things up here?"

"Dull"

"Oh" Buffy looked up and noticed a window that would be just big enough for them to climb through. "What do you think?" Buffy asked, the anticipation of a good fight heard clearly in her voice.

The dark Slayer smirked. "Perfect"

Faith being the taller of the two girls gave Buffy a boost and once the blonde Slayer had gotten inside, she pulled herself through. Looking around they found themselves in appeared to be some kind of storage room, it was empty but had shelves upon shelves from the floor to the ceiling.

Silently, both aware of how good a vampires hearing was they crept to the door and opened it slightly. Peeking through the door they could see, what obviously was the leader standing on a few boxes in front of a crowd of vampires.

"Get ready my brothers and sisters" He exclaimed theatrically. "In minutes we will take over the night, and the blood shall flow freely."

The Slayers shared a look before rolling their eyes in unison. Pulling open the door, they stepped, swords at the ready.

"Didn't anybody tell you" Faith quipped. "Around here you have to work for your food"

"And my God." Buffy added. "Could your lines get any cheesier" She glanced at the other Slayer. "Is it just these guys, or have I been spoiled by the hellmouth vamps?" She joked.

Faith grinned. "Just these ones, usually our bad guys are much wittier." She looked back at the stunned vampires. "C-mon guys" She teased. "Show her what Hollywood vampires are made of."

The leader finally snapped out of it. "Kill the Slayer" He screamed pointing at Faith.

"Oh yeah, that really helps my case" Faith muttered sarcastically before facing the onslaught.

Buffy looked offended, swinging her sword, she decapitated two vamps in one swing. "What am I, chopped liver? I'm a Slayer too, in fact I'm the original Slayer-" She was cut off mid rant and Angel kicked the front door in.

* * *

Angel entered to see the vampires charging Buffy and Faith and had to stop for a moment to admire the simple beauty of the Slayers in action. It was like poetry in motion, each knowing instinctively where the other one was, each playing off of the other, one Slayer was amazing, two were nearly unstoppable.

"Uh little help here" Buffy called, surrounded.

His face shifting, Angel growled. "Not nearly enough" before throwing himself into the fray, feeling rather than seeing Connor right behind him.

Dawn moved off to the left and into the shadows, knowing that a vampire could probably see her anyway but she wasn't going to give them an easy target. Putting a bolt into the crossbow she aimed away from her friends and pulled the trigger. The vampire barely had time to cry out before he dusted. Suppressing a yell of victory she reloaded the crossbow and pointed at another vampire.

Meanwhile Faith was having a blast. She'd already dusted four vampires and was working on her fifth. Blocking a punch she threw one of her own before adding a roundhouse kick that knocked the vamp of it's feet, with a quick swipe of her sword, he was dust.

Buffy was having a bit more trouble with her opponent. She tried to swing her sword but he just grabbed her arm and with a quick twist of his wrist knocked the weapon out of her hand, then head butted her. Stunned for a moment Buffy staggered back, shaking herself she cleared her head in time to catch the incoming fist. Grabbing him by the front of his shirt she delivered a vicious back-hand, then pulled a stake out from her waist band and dusting him before he could regain his Barings. Looking around she noticed her sword wasn't on the ground, either someone had picked it up or it had been kicked away. Not able to dwell on it any further she kicked another vampires legs from under it.

Angel and Connor were working in tandem, each killing vampires like they were made for it. Each with a different style. Where Angel would use sheer strength and brutality, Connor would use his speed and agility, each were effective it wasn't long till they both had several piles of dust around them.

While Dawn had managed to take out four vampires with the crossbow, it wasn't long before one of the vampires noticed her in the corner. His movement was a blur, and before Dawn knew it he'd knocked the crossbow out of her hand and was advancing slowly. Lashing out he punched her in the face causing her to cry out.

"Dawn" Buffy called out "I'm coming." She took out the vamp she was facing and turned around in time to see Dawn dive under the Vampires arm and pick up Buffy's abandoned sword from where it had been kicked near the wall. (A/N: Think Grave)

Holding the sword in one hand, Dawn impaled the vampire before pulling back. Gripping the sword in both hands she severed it's head from it's neck. turning around she saw that all the vampires had been slain and everyone but Connor was watching her in shock. "What?" She asked. "You think I never watched you?"

Before anybody could reply Angel's cell phone rang and disturbed the silence. While he answered it Buffy came over and gave her little sister a hug. "I'm so proud of you" She said, it clearly showing on her face.

Faith and Connor joined them. "Yeah, nice moves Little D"

Connor gave her a wide smile. "Knew you could do it."

"Oh crap" Angel muttered flipping his cell phone closed. "Guys we gotta move, Cordelia's just had another vision, turns out these vamps were entirely different from the demons. The demons are now at the club trying to raise some kind of leader or something, we need to get down there."

Throwing the sword to Buffy, Dawn spun around and grabbed her crossbow from where it had been thrown and followed the rest of the gang down the road.

Reaching the door to the club Faith tried to open it and found it was locked. Pulling her leg back she sent a powerful kick that shattered the door wide open and raced through. She cut the head off of the stunned demon that was obviously meant to be keeping guard before sauntering into the middle of the room.

Buffy, was the next person in looked down at the demon Faith had decapitated and noticed that they looked familiar. Unable to remember where she had seen them before, she brushed it aside and focused on the two that were charging her. Somersaulting over there heads she landed behind them and spun around, landing a 180 degree kick that caused one to fall down and other to stumble back, using the tip of her sword she quickly pierced the heart of the one on the ground before following Faith's example and decapitating the other.

Angel and Connor ran in next and each faced two opponents as they charged. Angel held out his axe in front of him and almost laughed when the demon impaled himself on it. Crouching down he kicked the legs out from underneath the second one and stabbed it though the heart. Glancing over at Connor to make sure he was ok, he saw his son take care off the last of his two.

"You won't stop the rise of our glorious lea- aaaah" The demon standing on the stage screamed at a crossbow imbedded itself into his left eye. Before falling to the ground dead.

As one the group of 4 turned to face Dawn who smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, finger slipped."

Faith gave her a quick grin. "Thanks Little D, really didn't wanna listen to him prattle on all night."

Buffy finished off the demon she was facing and turned to look at Faith with a raised eyebrow. "Prattle?"

Faith groaned. "To much time with the watcher." She grimaced.

Buffy just laughed, took a quick look around to make sure all the demons were dead before turning to Angel. "Did Wes say anything about what we need to do to stop the raising?"

"He said killing the demons should be enough unless there's a black orb"

"Uh like that one?" Dawn asked, eyes on the pulsating black ball that was floating about six feet off the top of the stage.

They all turned to watch as the orb started to grow bigger. "You have to pierce with a sword, drain the energy out of it" Angel cried.

Both Slayers leapt for the stage and as one shoved their swords straight into the bottom of the ball of energy.

End Chapter 11.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: I figured I would add another update since I wasn't able to last night. There will only be one more chapter after this and then I will post the sequel the following day. That's if you would be interested in a sequel, let me know. 

Chapter 12.

When Buffy and Faith entered the hotel they were both covered in black slime. Cordelia and Willow opened their mouths to say something but were cut off when both Slayers growled "Not a word" before heading straight for the stairs. Angel, Connor and Dawn followed the Slayers inside. Dawn and Connor were trying not to laugh, while Angel had a pained expression on his face.

"What happened?"

This only caused Dawn and Connor to crack up laughing as Angel threw himself in the chair. "They ruined my car" He mumbled abjectly.

* * *

Once the girls had showered and washed their hair repeatedly they made a re-entrance downstairs. "Remind me never to follow your instructions again Wes, that was disgusting." Faith said shuddering again at the thought.

"I have to agree, that was worse than the bezoar incident, do you have any idea what that stuff was?" Buffy asked throwing herself in a chair.

Wesley mumbled something not even her Slayer hearing could pick up. "What?"

Wesley sighed. "It was the liquefied insides of the demon, that was how the spell worked. It was slowly recreating the demon, if the orb had continued growing eventually it would have formed the leader demon. So it was a good thing you stopped it." He finished with a hopeful grin only to cringe back at the glare coming from the Slayers.

"Any y'all want pizza?" Fred asked loudly trying to change the subject.

The three woman who had returned from the fight immediately got sickened looks on their face while Connor jumped up and reached for the box.

"How can you eat that?" Dawn asked trying to settle her stomach.

With a mouth full of pizza Connor turned to her quizzically. "Why wouldn't I?"

Dawn just rolled her eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile Buffy had noticed Angel had disappeared and wandered into the kitchen to look for him. She found him at the sink drinking what she assumed to be a container of blood.

"I think it's time we had that talk, don't you" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

Angel gulped down the last of his blood. He knew this was coming sooner or later, he was just hoping for later. Slowly he nodded his head and motioned for her to follow him to his office.

Buffy shut the door and turned to face him. "Dad?"

Angel sighed and leaned against his desk. "Yes Connor is my son"

"You mean you adopted?"

"No, he's my blood Buffy,"

Her head spinning she sat down in one of the chairs "How is that possible?"

"No one's really sure, there was a prophecy, a child born of two vampire's would aid in the coming apocalypse, we're still trying to figure out the specifics."

"Why didn't you tell me, all this time and you never said a word" She thought for a moment. "Two vampires, whose his mother."

"Darla, and there just wasn't a perfect time, what was I supposed to do, call you while you were dealing with Glory? While you were dead or while you were trying to recover from being ripped out of heaven, when would you liked me to have told you?" He said a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"How about anytime over the three years you lived in Sunnydale, I'm sure there would have been over a hundred chance's for you to tell me you had a son" She retorted.

Angel looked confused for a moment. "Buffy, Conner was only born last year."

Buffy looked at him incredulously. "Angel, I may be blonde but I'm not stupid, that kid's at least 18."

Angel smiled in understanding. "Buffy, Connor was only born last year, he was kidnapped and raised in a hell dimension, time runs differently there, as we both already know, he was only gone a month here but when he returned he was a teenager."

Buffy let out a little "oh" and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry... wait a minute, if he was only born last year that means you and Darla..." She trailed off again.

Angel sighed. "Wolfram and Hart brought her back, they used her and Drusilla to mess with my head and as much as it pains me to admit it, they succeeded. I went a little nuts for awhile, fired my friends, set Darla and Drusilla on fire-"

"Ahhh" Buffy said in understanding, at Angel's questioning look she explained. "Drusilla came to Sunnydale last year, she kinda had scars all over her face and arms, that explains where they came from."

Angel nodded. "Anyway I was at my lowest point and ended up sleeping with Darla. It wasn't perfect happiness like it was with you, it was utter despair, it snapped me out of the funk I was in. I came crawling back to my friends, and after a lot of sucking up, and a lot of clothes for Cordelia"

Buffy laughed at that and muttered something about 'things never changing' but Angel ignored her and continued.

"But eventually they forgave me, things were quiet for awhile, then Darla comes back 9 months pregnant. We had a bit of a run in with a vampire clan wanting to worship that baby, and an old enemy of ours coming back to kill us. I remember we were out in the rain and the baby was dying, a vampire's body wasn't made to carry a child, so in the end Darla staked herself and there was Connor just lying in her dust. Everything was ok though till Connor was about 2 months old he was kidnapped" He didn't feel the need to tell her about Wesley being responsible, they'd already dealt with that and moved on. "There was kinda a standoff, Holtz had him, a demon had a portal opened and Wolfram and Hart had guns pointed at him. If I had of done anything they would have shot him, so Holtz jumped into the portal, Wolfram and Hart left, no longer interested and the Demon closed the portal and disappeared before I could get to him. I searched for a way to find him for a month and next thing I know there's a portal opening in the middle of the lobby and a teenage boy jumps out points a stake shooter at me and says 'Hello dad'. Things were strained, he'd been raised to hate me and he did, it took awhile but I managed to get him to talk to me, and hear what I had to say and were working on a real father-son relationship now"

He was so lost in the memories that he barely felt Buffy's arms surround him in a comforting embrace. He just held her for a moment and let the feelings wash over him before pulling back and wiping the few stray tears that had fallen down her cheeks. "Hey, it's ok now though, everything's fine."

"I know" She whispered. "I just wish I could've been there for you."

"I know." He replied. "But I was ok, I had Cordy there she pulled me through."

Buffy looked him in the eye. "You really love her don't you?" She asked seriously.

Angel nodded. "Yeah I do. I cant explain it, it's like you once told me, it's different from what we had, and though you'll always own a piece of my heart..." He trailed off.

Buffy smiled and sat back down in the chair. "I know exactly what you mean, you will always be my first love, but we've now moved on and found love again."

Angel looked up sharply. "You have a new boyfriend?"

Buffy's eyes widened at her slip. "NO!" she exclaimed before looking down. "I don't know, maybe, it's not something I wanna dwell on right now, but there is someone in my heart, let's just leave it at that"

Angel nodded slowly deciding he didn't really wanna know anyway. He may have moved on but it didn't mean he didn't still care for her a great deal or liked the idea of a new man in her life. "Ok"

"Is this what you wanted to talk to me about on the phone?"

Angel looked confused for a moment before remembering their conversation the previous day. "Oh no, that was about a job offer, I guess you don't really need it right now unless your still interested?"

"Sure, Dad's money isn't gonna last forever and I really don't wanna have to go back to something like the Doublemeat six months from now. What's your offer?"

Angel stood up and walked around his desk and sat in his chair. "I was thinking maybe you'd like to open up a branch of A.I in Sunnydale, I realize there's not as many people there as their is in L.A, but you could probably cater to the surrounding town's as well. I still own the mansion, so you could turn that into the office's. There's enough room to put some cages in the basement, you have the bedrooms to place anybody in that might need protection, there's also the training room." He looked up at her. "It's just a thought, that way if there's any demon emergency's or apocalypse type stuff you wouldn't need to come up with excuses like you would in a normal job, plus there's also the added bonus of also allowing the rest of the group to work. I know Xander and Anya already have a job, but Willow and Tara might like the added income, and from what I've heard Dawn is turning out to be quite a good researcher, she might also like an afternoon job. What do you think?"

Buffy sat in silence, she couldn't help but think this was the most she'd heard Angel speak ever. Shaking herself she got back to the topic at hand. "But we do the job anyway."

"Yes, this way you would get paid for it, I'm not saying charge everyone that you help, but there are other circumstances too. For example we once had a client who was getting blackmailed with pictures, now this guy hadn't really done anything illegal but the person responsible was using demons. Cases like that are the type you charge for because it's not life threatening, but they also couldn't get help from anywhere else."

"I get the point, I'll have to talk to the others about this" She looked down at her watch and saw that it was close to 11pm. "We better get on the road, but I will call you about this and let you know."

"That's fine, but about driving back to Sunnydale, I think you should wait till morning, It's been a long day for Dawn, and you if you had to work all day, why don't you spend the night here and head off after a good night's sleep. You can share Dawn's room and there's a spare room in the suite for Willow."

She stifled a yawn, mention of a bed made her suddenly realize how tired she actually was. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." He smiled at her. "It really is good to see you again Buffy."

She leaned over and hugged him. "You too Angel."

Together they walked out into the lobby to find only Wesley. "Where'd everyone go?" Angel asked.

Wesley looked up. "Oh uh, Fred and Gunn went home, Faith went to shower again, I think Connor's in the kitchen and Cordelia insisted Willow, Dawn and Buffy should spend the night after both girls had yawned quite a few times and sent them to bed before heading there herself. I was just putting these research book away before I was gonna head out myself." He placed the last stack on the shelf before turning back to face them. "Is there anything else you need?"

Angel shook his head. "No thanks Wes, you go home and get some rest"

"I will" He grabbed his keys off the table. "Goodnight Angel, goodnight Buffy"

"Night Wes" Buffy replied.

"Goodnight Wesley, I'll see you tomorrow" Angel looked to Buffy "You go up to bed, it's the third door on the left. I'm gonna find Connor and head up myself."

Giving Angel a smile she nodded and headed for the stairs. "Night Angel"

"Sleep tight Buffy"

Entering the room Buffy opened the first door and saw Dawn asleep on the bed, shutting it quietly she opened the next one and saw Willow also asleep. Deciding she'd talk to her in the morning she went back to the room she would share with Dawn. Careful not to wake her sister she climbed into next to her and fell quickly to sleep.

End Chapter 12.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13. 

Dawn awoke the next morning to the smells of bacon coming from the kitchen, she rolled over to check the time and came face to face with her sister asleep next to her.  
Slowly she slid out of the bed careful not to wake Buffy, grabbed some clothes and quietly entered the bathroom to use the toilet and brush her teeth and get dressed. When she came out she dropped a quick kiss on her sisters cheek and left the room. Closing the door behind her she turned around and found Willow standing there.

"Buffy still asleep?"

"Yeah" Dawn said, "Didn't wanna wake her, you coming down for breakfast?"

"Yeah, I heard someone in the bathroom figured I'd wait for them."

"Do you need the bathroom?"

"Nah, I've already used it." Willow replied.

"So that's what that door was. I thought it was another closet."

Willow grinned at her. "And they reckon Buffy's the blonde in the family."

Dawn poked her tongue out at her. "Shut up"

"You ready to go down Dawnie?"

"Yup let's go"

* * *

Angel was placing a plate of pancakes on the table when the two girls walked in. They looked at the table and saw that it was surrounded by nearly every breakfast food you could imagine.

"I didn't know what you liked" He said sheepishly.

Willow smiled at him. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble Angel, we could have just eaten cereal."

Cordelia looked up at her. "Don't say that, I like it when he does this, though not to often. I'll get so fat you'll just have to roll me at the bad guys and I'll knock em over like bowling pins."

Angel leaned over and gave her a kiss. "I'll still love you anyway."

"Pffft, yeah right" But she smiled at him.

"I wouldn't say no if you cooked like this every morning." Connor mumbled, his mouth full of sausages.

Angel ruffled his hair as he walked past on his way to the sink. "I bet you wouldn't"

Connor scowled and tried to flatten his hair, well that was until Dawn sat down next to him with a wide smile and a "Good morning"

Connor grinned back at her. "You wanna do some more training this morning before you go home?"

Dawn nodded as she put some eggs on her plate. "Would love to" She said ignoring the teasing grins that came from the two other women at the table. She said a quick "Thanks" to Angel as he put a cup of coffee in front of her before starting to eat.

Willow shared a knowing grin with Cordelia, giving her own "Thanks" to Angel as he did the same for her before grabbing some pancakes.

* * *

Half an hour later, Willow and Cordelia were the only ones still in the kitchen.

"Remind me never to eat that much again, now I feel sick" Cordelia groaned leaning back in her chair and rubbing her stomach.

Willow laughed. "That'll teach you, you almost eat as much as Xander"

Cordelia looked offended. "I do not, you take that back."

Willow just shook her head, a smile on her face as she finished the last of her own breakfast. "So what's up with Dawnie and Connor" She asked.

"I don't know." Cordelia replied. "But Connor was showing her some moves yesterday and you would have sworn it was Buffy and Angel, the next generation. They had that look between them. I said as much to Angel, and even he agreed."

"Dawnie's got a boyfriend, wow, Buffy's barely letting her out of the house alone, I don't know how she's gonna deal with this."

"How I'm gonna deal with what?" Buffy asked entering the kitchen. She spotted the coffee machine. "Ooooh caffeine." Grabbing a mug off the bench she poured herself a cup and turned around. She noticed both women had the 'deer in headlights' look. "What?" She asked worriedly.

"Nothing"

"Nothing"

Giving them a strange look, Buffy just nodded her head. "Ok... then, where's Dawnie?"

"Uhh, she's in the training room." Cordelia mumbled.

Buffy put her cup down and folded her arms across her chest. "Ok, what's going on?"

Cordelia stood up. "Maybe you should come have a look." She said before walking out of the room.

Buffy looked questionably at Willow who just shrugged before following her out the door.

* * *

"Oh my god." Buffy whispered, from the corner of her eye she could see Willow had a similar reaction. They were standing in the same place that Cordelia and Angel found themselves yesterday. They watched as Connor lead Dawn though a series of Tai Chi exercises, and although Dawn's movements were a little jerkier than Connor's she followed his lead almost flawlessly. But what surprised Buffy the most was she could see that Dawn's eyes followed every movement Connor made and had a small smile on her face while she did it.

A smile that Buffy could remember looking at in the mirror when she was 16 every time she thought of Angel. Though a part of her wanted to go down their and rip his arms off so he could never touch her baby sister, another part remembered the feeling of being in love for the first time, and the fact that with everything that came after, she wouldn't change it for the world.

She turned around and went back into the lobby so they wouldn't disturb the teenagers from their workout.

The other two women followed her. Each were expecting her to rush down there and pull Dawn out by her hair, picture their stunned looks when Buffy turned around with a smile on her face.

"I'm happy for them."

Willow shook off her stupor. "Ok, who are you and what have you done with Buffy?"

Buffy laughed. "No, I'm serious, I'm not saying I wont feed him his feet while there still attached if he breaks her heart. But Dawn turns 17 next week and if she's found someone that makes her happy, I'm happy for her." She looked over at Cordelia and her face turned serious. "Though if I become an aunt anytime soon, it wont be his feet he'll get fed."

"And as much as I would love to be a grandfather, I can guarantee it won't happen anytime soon" Angel said coming out of his office. "So don't worry Buffy." His eyes shifted to the training room door. "I don't think either of them have even really acknowledged how they feel yet."

She gave another short laugh. "Yeah and how long do you think that'll last."

He just smirked at her before changing the subject. "So are you doing anything for Dawn's birthday next week?"

"Yesterday I didn't think I was going to be able to afford much, so we just planned on having a night out at the Bronze, now we have money I dunno." She thought for a moment. "We'll probably just have a night out at the Bronze"

Willow giggled. "There's not a whole lot to do in Sunnydale."

"Some things never change" Cordelia said.

"We'd love for you to come though, if you can make it?" Buffy asked.

Angel looked over to Cordelia who nodded. "We'll be there, Connor will probably drag us there anyway. I'll talk to the rest of the gang when they arrive and call you."

"Cool" Buffy agreed. She looked over at Willow. "We better get on the road soon, if we wanna avoid traffic."

Willow nodded. "Do you wanna go tell Dawnie?"

Buffy shook her head, "I'll leave her for a bit, I'll go pack her bag and we'll grab her right before we leave. She turned to the others. "I'll be back down in a bit." When they acknowledged her she left the room and went upstairs.

* * *

"Thank you so much" Dawn said as she took a drink out of the water bottle. 

"I've already told you it's no problem, you catch on quick."

'Oh there's that smile again' Dawn had to focus to keep standing and not melt into a little puddle. 'Being that cute should be a crime' she thought as she put the training sword away. "So do you think you can get Cordy or Angel to bring you down?" She asked trying to focus on anything but how good he looked standing there in only a pair of sweat pants.

Connor nodded. "I'm sure one of them will take me, they might even be coming down themselves, I thought I heard you sister say something about it earlier."

"How could yo... Oh super powers, handy."

He came up beside her and put his own training sword away. He grinned at her. "It has it's moments"

Dawn turned to face him and suddenly found herself lost in his eyes. Slowly they leant forward until their lips were centimeters apart.

"Dawn, we heading off in a minute, are you finished?" Buffy called through the door.

They both jumped apart. "Uh yeah, I'm coming." She gave him a smile before nearly running for the stairs.

Connor shook his head. "Damn it" He muttered before slowly following.

* * *

"So we'll see you guys next week?" Dawn asked putting her bag in the back of Xander's car. Both Cordelia and Connor had come out to say goodbye. they'd said their goodbyes to Angel inside as it was late in morning the sun was glaring brightly.

"We'll be there Dawnie." Cordelia said giving her a hug before moving on to Willow and Buffy.

Still feeling embarrassed about before Dawn gave Connor a quick hug, a light kiss on the cheek and jumped in the car. She missed him place his hand where she had kissed him and smile, though the other hadn't. Sharing a grin, Buffy and Willowclimbed in the car. "We'll see you next week." Buffy called before Willow pulled away from the curb and entered the traffic.

Spinning around in the back seat Dawn watched Connor until they turned a corner and she could no longer see him. She frowned until she remembered she would see him again in a few day.

Smiling she couldn't help but think. 'It's been one hell of a weekend.'

The End.

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed this story, it's because of you guys that this fic didn't end up unfinished like all my others. So thank you.

A/N 2: I know I said I'd get the first chapter of the sequel up tomorrow but as it's my sister's birthday I won't be home, I will put 2 up on Monday instead. Only if your interested in a sequel though, so review and let me know.

Here's the summary: When the Fang Gang and the Scoobies head to the Bronze for Dawn's birthday expecting a band or even a D.J, imagine their surprise when they enter and find a karaoke system instead...


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